US Stock Futures Point To Lower Open Ahead Of Home Sales Report

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in this November 29, 2010 file photo. Photo: REUTERS

The U.S. stock index futures signaled a lower open Tuesday ahead of the National Association of Realtors' home sales report.

The futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.19 percent, the futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were down 0.20 percent and those on the Nasdaq 100 Index were down 0.14 percent.

Home sales report that measures the change in the annualized number of existing residential buildings sold during the previous month will be made public Tuesday. It is expected to rise to 5.10 million units in December, from 5.04 million units in November.

On Friday, the U.S. stocks rose as investor confidence was lifted by the encouraging earnings report from General Electric Co (NYSE: GE). The diversified conglomerate reported before the market opened that the company’s net earnings rose to $4.01 billion or $0.38 per share in the fourth quarter, from $3.73 billion or $0.35 per share in the same period the earlier year. The company’s revenue rose to $39.33 billion in the fourth quarter, from $37.97 billion in the same period the earlier year and above the analysts' expectation of $38.74 billion.

Asian stocks were mixed Tuesday as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised the country’s inflation target to 2 percent from 1 percent and also introduced open ended asset purchasing method as part of its monetary stimulus measures intended to revive the economic growth momentum.